Greene, Norwich win Oxford titles

OXFORD – Greene coach Rick Tallman didn’t expect as easy a game with Oxford two weeks after his Trojans routed the Blackhawks by four goals. And Tallman was right, it was far from easy.

Mark Day’s pass in front of the Oxford goal mouth was touched in by Brad VanWert with 1:01 left in sudden-death overtime giving Greene the Oxford tourney title. “It’s always hard-fought when Oxford and Greene get together,” Tallman said. “It was well-played by both teams, and this was more of a traditional Oxford-Greene game.”

The Blackhawks opened the scoring putting a goal on the board with just 1:29 left in the first half. Taylor Bates scored unassisted, and that goal stood up through most of the second half.

Ryan Utter netted the tying goal with 11:29 remaining to force the extra session. “We got back to the way we play late in the game and in overtime,” Tallman said. “We possessed the ball better and had a couple opportunities in overtime before we scored.”

Friday, Oxford advanced to the finals with a 3-1 victory over G-MU. Scott Seiler had his second hat trick in a week’s time. Cody Luettger scored for G-MU, who forged a 1-1 tie at the break against the favored host club. “To G-MU’s credit, they played outstanding,” said Oxford coach Tim Paden. “We possessed the ball better and made more things happen in the second half.”